Improvement in eaves-trough covers



J. R. CREIGHTON.

EAVES-TROUGH COVER.

No. 189,431. Patented April 10, 1877.

llllllllllllllllll Ii PEI'ERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAPNER, WASP" PATENT FFIGE.

JAMES onn enron, or BOSTON,*MASSAOHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF one HALF HISBIGHTTO ALFRED B. HALL, OF SAME PLACE.

IMBRQYEI VIENT IN EAVES TROUGH COVERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 189.431, dated April10, 1877 application filed March 6, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES R. OREIGHTON, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulEaves-Trough Cover and Building-Protector, which invention is fully setforth in the following specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing.

The object of my invention is to protect buildings and their contentsfrom the frequent and often serious damage which occurs in northernlatitudes during the cold winter months, from the eaves-troughs orgutters of buildings becoming clogged and frozen, and then, duringintervals of thawing, forcing the water back upon the roof and under itscovering, and thus causing damage to both the building and its contentsfrom leakage; and my invention consists, first, in an eaves-troughcover, constructed wholly or in part of glass, or equivalent transparentmaterial, whereby the suns rays are admitted directly into the gutter,and the solar heat is thereby utilized to raise the temperature, withinsuch inclosed space, above the freezing-point; second, in a combinedgutter-cover and snow-guard, whereby the snow is kept upon the roofabove the gutter, and prevented from sliding into the street orprojecting over the gutter and annoying pedestrians, when melting, withits disagreeable dripping; third, in certain details of construction,arrangement, and combination of such gutter-cover and snow-guard, as ishereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Flgure l is a top view of a portion of abuilding with my invention applied. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of thesame. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a verticalsection on line a; 00, Fig. 1.

Upon the roof A is erected, near the eaves, a snow-guard, B, constructedof any suitable material, and firmly secured to the roof by irons m andbraces n, as shown, or in any other suitable manner. Between the cavesand lower edge of said guard sufficient space is left to allow theordinary flow,of rain or melted snow to pass freely from said roof undersaid guard into the gutter or eaves-trough. Said guard,

which constitutes a part of the eaves-trough cover, is also constructedwith convenient openings along the line thereof, like that shown at k,to facilitate the clearing of the gutter from such sediment or depositsas may accumulate therein from time to time, said openings being closedby an insertible cover, 10, or they may have hinged covers arranged tofold back upon the guard, or be closed by a slide, or in any otherconvenient manner. The guard B forms one side of an angular cover tosaid gutter G, the front side 0 being composed of a frame or sash,preferably of metal, in which are inserted lights of glass 9 g, whichmay be plane or convex colored or colorless, as may be most efficient ordesirable. This frame 0, at its upper side or edge is socured to thesnow-guard B, while its lower side rests securely upon the outer edge orlip of the eaves-trough G, thus forming an inclined cover over theentire length of said trough, the ends of which are also covered in anyproper manner. Such glazing is designed to facilitate the warming ofsaid inclosed gutter, while excluding snow and any other clogging andobstructive substance from falling into the same by permitting the raysof the sun to pass into said gutter, and thereby utilizing the solarheat thus imparted to re-enforce the radiated heat from the building,and raise the temperature within such inclosed space above thefreezing-point.

When the position of the building is such that the suns rays fall moredirectly upon the guard B than upon the side 0, said guard may be alsoglazed.

Said cover, however, may be made exclusively of suitable opaquematerial, preferably such as will absorb and radiate most readily theheat imparted by the sun, it being obvious that, when a thaw continuesin the absence of the sun, there is no more tendency to freezing in theeaves-trough than on the roof; and, when metallic gutters are used inconnection with my invention, it is preferred that they should beconstructed double, with an intermediate air-space, in place of the woodw in the wood and metal gutter G shown in Figs. 3 and 4. it is alsoadvisable to use What I claim as my invention is- 1. An eaves-troughcover composed in part of glass, for the purposes specified.

2. A combined snow-guard and gutter-cover, substantially as and for thepurposes specified.

3. A combined gutter-cover and snow-guard,

constructed with openings through which to clear the gutter fromsediment or deposit, substantially as described and shown.

JAMES R. OBEIGHTON.

Witnesses:

EUGENE HUMPHBEY, T. W. PORTER.

